Class Central is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Harvard University

Personal Finance: Investing for Beginners

Harvard University via edX

Go to class Write review
Babbel Ad

You’re only 3 weeks away from a new language

Learn More → Boot.dev Ad

The Most Addictive Python and SQL Courses

Learn More →

Overview

Google, IBM & Meta Certificates – 40% Off
One Coursera Plus subscription covers most Professional Certificates on Coursera.
Unlock All Certificates

How can economics help you make smarter decisions about your money? In Principles of Economics: Personal Finance and Investing, you will apply economic concepts to personal finance, investing, and asset market behavior.

You will explore how economists think about the value of money over time, investment growth, financial risk, diversification, and asset pricing. Markets do not always behave rationally, and you will learn how speculative bubbles, meme stocks, and investment scams can push prices away from fundamental value.

By the end of the course, you will have an economic framework for evaluating investments, interpreting developments in financial markets, and making more informed financial decisions. Learners without a background in economics may benefit from first completing Principles of Economics: Supply, Demand, and Optimization.

Syllabus

Evaluate financial decisions over time

  • Apply discounting and present value analysis to compare money received today with money received in the future.
  • Calculate the future value of investments using rates of return and compound growth.
  • Use these concepts to evaluate long-term financial and investment decisions.

Assess investment risk and diversification

  • Evaluate financial risk using expected values, probability distributions, and percentiles.
  • Compare investment options based on their potential risks and returns.
  • Explain how diversification can reduce risk and identify the benefits of broadly diversified investment vehicles such as mutual funds and exchange-traded funds.

Analyze asset values and financial market behavior

  • Distinguish between an asset's market price and its fundamental value.
  • Explain why investors may struggle to consistently outperform the market.
  • Recognize warning signs of speculative bubbles, pump-and-dump schemes, meme-stock speculation, and other situations in which prices may deviate from fundamental value. *

Tags

Reviews

Start your review of Personal Finance: Investing for Beginners

Go to class

Never Stop Learning.

Get personalized course recommendations, track subjects and courses with reminders, and more.

Sign up for free
Someone learning on their laptop while sitting on the floor.